Wolsey-Wessington, JVC reach 281 title game

Posted: Thursday, Jan 17th, 2013BY: PLAINSMAN STAFF

Wolsey-Wessington’s Roy Lumpkin puts up a shot under heavy pressure by Hitchcock-Tulare teammates Landon Gatzke (5) and Landon Bushong (20) during their game in the semifinals of the 281 Conference Tournament on Tuesday at Huron Arena. Next, James Valley Christian’s Adam Hofer puts up a shot in the lane as Sanborn Central-Woonsocket’s Nick Miller defends on the play during the semifinals of the 281 Conference Tournament. And next, Sanborn Central-Woonsocket’s Todd Stekl dribbles on the perimeter against James Valley Christian’s Nathan Wedel during the semifinals of the 281 Conference Tournament. PHOTOS BY MIKE CARROLL/PLAINSMAN

The Warbirds stretched a four-point first-quarter lead into a 16 point half-time advantage by outscoring the Patriots 15-5, then pushed the lead to 22 by the end of the third quarter, 55-29.

The second quarter run was well-balanced Roy Lumpkin and Lorenzo Williams each had four points to go with a three-pointer by Hayden Hooks and a pair of field goals by Alex Babcock and Chris Williams.

The Patriots answered with just one field goal and a 3-for-4 performance from the line.

After half time the Warbirds were led by the trio of Babcock, who had nine points in the third quarter followed by Lumpkin, who had eight points and Hooks, who had seven points. They accounted for 24 of the Warbirds 26 points.

Patriots nearly doubled their halftime score of 15 in that frame as five different Patriots scored. But none scored more than four points, leaving the 26-point deficit with just eight minutes to play.

Lumpkin and Babcock finished with a game-high 18 points, while Hooks had 15 and Lorenzo Williams had 13.

For the Patriots Trent Hofer scored a team-high 14, while Chase Bixler had eight and both Landon Gatzke and Landon Bushong had seven.

While both teams shot nearly the same percentage, the Warbirds had the advantage in rebounding 38-29 and in taking care of the ball, as the Patriots committed nine more turnovers, finishing with 26.

HURON — For the second time in less than a week, the James Valley Christian Vikings handed the Sanborn Central-Woonsocket Blackhawks a setback. The most recent came Tuesday night during the semifinals of the 281 Conference Tournament at Huron Arena.

After leading 26-19 at the half, the top-seeded Vikings reeled off 26 points in the third quarter to build a 52-34 advantage heading into the final quarter.

Adam Hofer and Nathan Wedel combined to score 58 of the 67 points for the Vikings, who improved to 8-0. Hofer finished with 38 points, while Wedel added 20 points.

Wedel and Andrew Ulvestad each had eight rebounds for JVC and both recorded four assists. Wedel also had a team-high four steals.

Sanborn Central-Woonsocket, which is 8-2 with both its losses coming against the Vikings, was led by Nick Miller and Davion Brooks with 14 and 12 points, respectively.

Miller also had 10 of the Blackhawks' 26 rebounds and two steals, while Tyler Krueger had a team-high four assists.

James Valley Christian will face second-seeded and also undefeated Wolsey-Wessington in the championship game at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Huron Arena.

Sanborn Central-Woonsocket will face Hitchcock-Tulare for third place at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday at Huron Arena.